From Ghost to Ghost (Japanese: エンジュジム！ゴーストバトル！！Enjū Gym! Ghost Battle!!) is the 182nd episode of the Pokémon anime. It was first broadcast in Japan on January 25, 2001 and in the United States on November 10, 2001.

Contents

Blurb

Anxious to acquire the next Johto League badge, Ash challenges Ecruteak City's Gym Leader, Morty. However, Ash has seen Morty's Ghost-type Pokémon in action and is a little worried about battle strategies. In a discussion with Nurse Joy, Ash realizes his secret weapon against Morty's Pokémon is his Noctowl. Find out what special strategies Ash and his Noctowl employ in a head-to-head battle against the skilled Gym Leader and his fear-provoking Pokémon!

Plot

The episode begins with Ash preparing for his fourth Gymbattle against Morty and his powerful team of Ghost-typePokémon by listening to his Pokédex's entry about Gengar. Unfortunately, the Pokédex states that details about Gengar are unknown. As Ash muses over battle strategies, Nurse Joy arrives with his Pokémon after healing them in the Pokémon Center. They talk about the difficulty of facing Morty's Ghost-type Pokémon and Nurse Joy suggests that Ash should use his Noctowl as a secret weapon.

At the Gym, Morty has his Gengar demonstrate Confuse Ray to a group of young Trainers as an example of how to fight without using brute force. Ash and his friends interrupt the lecture to challenge the Gym. Morty suggests that his students be allowed to watch and Ash gladly agrees.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket floats along in their hot air balloon. James and Meowth are discussing James's use of his Treasure Detector to find treasures in Ecruteak City. Jessie groans that the device only ever finds junk and James fervently attempts to prove her wrong by displaying his prized collection of bottle caps, although he declines to explain what makes them so valuable. Suddenly, the device beeps loudly! They look over the edge of the balloon's basket to see that they are floating directly over the Burned Tower of Ecruteak. They descend in the hopes of finding something valuable among the ruins.

Soon, as Ash's battle with Morty is about to begin, Team Rocket follow the Treasure Detector right up to the Gym, where they see Ash through a window and then mention that they may leave Ecruteak with more than one treasure. Just then, the battle begins! Morty calls his Gastly forth and Ash chooses Noctowl in order to start off strong, a decision at which Brock and Misty are quite surprised and concerned. Ash says that he knows what he's doing, however.

Ash has Noctowl begin with Hypnosis. Gastly dodges, disappearing in the process. Ash tells Noctowl to use Foresight to find Gastly. Noctowl then attempts to Tackle Gastly, but Gastly easily dodges the attack again and again. After failing to Tackle Gastly, Noctowl tries to use Hypnosis; however, Morty orders Gastly to close his eyes to avoid being hypnotized and to use his Lick attack, which whips Noctowl out of the air. Ash returns Noctowl to its Poké Ball. Brock points out that this is a good strategy since Noctowl's Foresight will keep Gastly from disappearing and Ash can use Noctowl again later on if he needs to.

As Jessie and Meowth watch through the window, they comment that the battle is much more interesting than digging for treasure. James then shows up and shouts that his device revealed a valuable item hidden in a nearby building, which makes them forget about the battle for the time being.

With Foresight keeping Gastly in view, Ash chooses Pikachu to replace Noctowl. Pikachu begins by using Quick Attack, which knocks Gastly far back. Pikachu then uses Thunderbolt, but Gastly dodges and counters with Night Shade. Pikachu got hit and is unable to battle any further. After thanking Pikachu for his hard work, Ash chooses Cyndaquil as his next choice.

Meanwhile, Team Rocket have discovered that the building indicated by the Treasure Detector contains a number of real valuables, including a vase, a sword, and a new charm for Meowth's forehead. Just then, several Gastly materialize through a wall of the room. The trio turns around to see them and yells out in fright.

Back at the Gym, Cyndaquil starts off with a Flamethrower attack. Gastly dodges, countering with Night Shade, which Cyndaquil dodges using Quick Attack. Gastly uses Lick but Cyndaquil just runs up Gastly's tongue and Tackles it, finally defeating it.

Morty chooses Haunter as his second Pokémon. Cyndaquil tries to hit it with Flamethrower, but Haunter disappears and then uses Mean Look, which extinguishes Cyndaquil's back flames and forces Ash to use Cyndaquil until the end of the round. Ash orders Cyndaquil to fire back up and use its Swift attack, which hurts Haunter. Haunter uses Hypnosis, which nearly works; but Cyndaquil counters with SmokeScreen. Through the Smokescreen, Haunter grabs Cyndaquil and then Licks it, ending Cyndaquil's ability to battle. Ash is now down to only his Noctowl.

As the Gym battle rages on, Team Rocket sits in the other building, hallucinating about food at the Gastly's doing, which the Gastly think is very humorous.

After Ash brings it back out, Noctowl uses Foresight to keep Haunter from disappearing. Noctowl follows this with a Tackle attack, but Haunter forces Noctowl to dodge its hands to avoid being grabbed instead. Haunter then tries its Lick attack, which Noctowl dodges. The two Pokémon then each use Hypnosis and Confuse Ray, which become locked against each other; but Noctowl's Hypnosis loses the struggle and gets blown away, allowing Confuse Ray to hit Noctowl. The battle looks just about over when Noctowl appears confused after sitting back up. Haunter uses Night Shade but Noctowl Tackles it through the attack. The two collide and Noctowl emerges the victor.

Since Noctowl's Tackle worked even though it was confused and the attack beat out Haunter's Night Shade, Brock says that it looks like Noctowl has learned Confusion, which Ash confirms with his Pokédex. Noctowl uses its new move on Haunter and easily wins.

Finally, it's Gengar's turn. Noctowl uses Confusion while Gengar uses Shadow Ball; the Confusion attack hits the Shadow Ball, making it explode, showering everyone with dark energy. Gengar disappears and, when Noctowl tries to use Foresight to find it, starts forcing Noctowl to repeatedly dodge its Night Shade. Misty is surprised that Gengar can attack while it's invisible and Brock says that Noctowl won't win without using Foresight. Ash thinks for a moment and then tells Noctowl to send Confusion through the building. This reveals Gengar and Noctowl is able to use Foresight on it. Gengar attempts to use Shadow Ball again, but Noctowl stops it with a Tackle attack. After hitting the ceiling and falling to the floor, Gengar is now unable to battle. With no more Pokémon to fight against, Ash and Noctowl have won!

Before the group heads out, Morty admits that Ash may actually have seen Ho-Oh. He then hands over the Fog Badge. Just before the credits, Team Rocket is seen running away from the haunted building, complaining of what a ghastly nightmare the day has been.